action against anti-LGBTQ protest - tonight at UNC

[grrl62]

Friends,

I am writing to you about an action planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11 in response to an anti-LGBTQ demonstration that is being staged in the Pit at 7pm. The Upper Room Ministry is planning a "Christian Coming Out Day" in protest of the GLBT-SA's Coming Out Week. The event flyer they were handing out today in the Pit reads as follows -

"Calling all Christians - Christian Coming Out Day
This is a call for ALL CHRISTIANS on this campus to take a stand against the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA at UNC. The WORD OF GOD, unmistakably declares that HOMOSEXUALITY is an ABOMINATION in the sight of God. We, the Upper Room Campus Ministry, in order to combat "Coming out Week" have declared TUESDAY 10/11/2005 "CHRISTIAN COMING OUT DAY." At 7PM we will be RALLYING in the PIT for PRAYER and a preached WORD. Please wear BLUE JEANS and a WHITE SHIRT. Join us as we take a STAND for CHRIST on this campus.
"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination..." -Leviticus 20:13 NKJV"

We are currently mobilizing communities of faith as well as other groups and individuals who share alternative visions of justice and love to respond to this event. Our plan is to gather in front of Wilson Library in Polk Place at 6:45pm, and have a quick group discussion to make sure we are all on the same page and that we have a shared vision of what our presence should convey. At 7:10 we will walk over as a group to the Pit and stand there alongside Upper Ministry members. Some people may choose to bring signs with LGBTQ-affirming or other relevant messages. People may wish to hold hands to show solidarity as a group - LGBTQ and allied folks alike. We will stand in silence for twenty minutes. The goal is to keep the messages we deliver and our presence overall as positive as possible. We are NOT aiming to silence or disrupt their event but to offer an alternative vision to them and to the campus community of what God's love, or a positive justice-oriented worldview in general, can and should like.

We are hoping to keep this action as focused around communities and people of faith as possible. Though many of us may identify as non-religious we are choosing to stand in solidarity with those people whose religious views are often co-opted to deliver messages of hate and intolerance. To that end we especially encourage people of faiths and spiritualities of all sorts to join us tomorrow night.

People will be making signs in the Pit tomorrow in preparation for the event, so please feel free to come by and share your ideas. We are still working towards a completely cohesive vision of what our response will look like so please be in touch with any questions, thoughts, or concerns.

Please feel free to spread the word about this event but be thoughtful of what listservs or groups of people you choose to inform.

In solidarity,
Sarah Carucci
[e-mail]


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spread the word - please attend the action - if you are able. now more than ever we need to counter anti-LGBTQ messages. please feel free to cross post this in any of the DU Groups.